Visitors to Beijing, China, can hitch a ride on modern buses styled to look like Dangdang trolley cars, which ran in Beijing from 1924 to 1966. Passengers are taken on a 6-mile route with 15 stops, including the Palace Museum, Tiananmen Square and Qianmen (gate). An English-speaking guide is present on each bus to describe the sites along the tour.
I’ve always felt that taxis are underrated, scenic time-savers that can zip you effortlessly from one sight to the next… except during rush-hour traffic, when they’re stuck like everyone else.
In the past, cabs were expensive for a lone budget traveler but a good deal for a group of three or four. Now, with the advent of ride-sharing services like Uber, there are more deals than ever for getting around European cities.
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I prefer to travel independently rather than with a tour group, and, over the years, one of the benefits of planning my own travel has been achieving a level of expertise in the various transportation systems abroad. On our September 2015 trip to Europe, my wife, Kris, and I and four friends used quite a few different conveyances to get around, many of which we booked before we left the US.
Trains
Train travel in Europe is generally safe, efficient and fast. Traveling by train with full suitcases can be somewhat stressful, however.
In The Hague, Netherlands, a hop-on, hop-off tram catering to foreign visitors began service in June 2016, running every half hour from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The retro-style, cream-and-green-colored Tourist Tram runs through the city center to Scheveningen Beach, making 16 stops at places such as the Peace Palace, Beelden aan Zee museum and Kerkplein. Recorded commentary in English plays from speakers in the seats.
Thousands of taxi drivers took to the streets of Jakarta, Indonesia, on March 25 to protest ride-sharing companies such as Uber and Grab, blocking traffic on main roads in the city for hours. Drivers at some locations became violent, attacking other taxi drivers for not joining their protests. The protesting taxi drivers were joined by bus and bajaj (motorcycle taxi) drivers in calling for ride-sharing to be banned.
London is a popular destination during the Christmas holidays and deservedly so. My wife, Paula, and I flew out of Charlotte on Dec. 25, 2015, arriving at London’s Heathrow airport on Dec. 26, and we returned from London on Jan. 1, 2016. While we expected schedules for attractions would be affected by the holidays, we discovered that transportation options were significantly reduced as well.
The Spirit of Scotland Travelpass provides, within the allowed time period, unlimited travel on several railways as well as on routes in Scotland serviced by Scottish Citylink, Stagecoach and First Bus motorcoaches and Caledonian MacBrayne ferries. Pass holders also get discounts on selected tours and cruises and 20% off fares for ferries to the Orkney and Shetland islands.
In the Eastern Mediterranean, Greece, Croatia and Turkey remain popular with tourists and present some important transportation and sightseeing changes for 2016.
GREECE is one of Europe’s great destinations, but concern about its financial crisis and the thousands of Syrian refugees entering the country is impacting travelers’ vacation plans. While the country is digging out of a massive economic hole (and I wouldn’t want to be a Greek worker counting on a comfortable retirement), its fiscal woes should hardly be noticed by visitors.
There were four of us who wanted to take several taxi trips in Athens, Greece, over three days in mid-October 2015 before heading to our ship to embark on a cruise. The taxi service we hired was John’s Yellow Cab (phone +30 694 447 5706, www.athens-taxi.net).
When we arrived at the airport, John Grivogiannis met us with a sign showing our name and we were driven into town, a service for which he charged €45 (near $49). Since the fixed fare for standard taxis from the airport to Athens was €38, we thought this was a fair price.
New 5-day tourist passes are good for unlimited train and bus rides (buses are limited to routes within train-stop cities). The Japan Rail Central tourist pass, costing ¥13,500 (near $112), covers rail travel between Kansai Airport (in Osaka) and the city of Nagoya, including Fukui, Kanazawa and Takayama. A Japan Rail West pass, at ¥10,500, covers rail travel between Nagoya and Kii-Katsuura, including Toba and Owase. Purchase online and see route maps at http://touristpass.jp/en.